After the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix, Aleix Espargaró admitted to feeling physically exhausted, even suggesting that the demands of the bikes might be pushing the physical limits of the riders.
Responding to these comments from his rider, Aprilia’s Technical Director, Romano Albesiano, said: ‘It’s the first time I hear this comment from a rider, and this track [Mugello] is quite physical. And also the choice of racing with the soft [tyre] was producing more instability to the bike and more effort to control it’.
On the other hand, Albesiano acknowledged that the bikes need to be more comfortable: ‘I don’t think MotoGP should be transformed in a marathon, but you have to do the best with the material you have. Eventually we have to design a bike which is more comfortable. If you look at the position of the handlebars in recent years, you see that they raised up. So the bike is more designed as a sports touring bike than before. So the lever needs to be bigger and bigger because of this, but this is the development’.
Albesiano further stated: ‘From 2027 there will be a reset of these parameters. But now it’s okay; I don’t think this is a big problem. We have to do something to help the riders’.